Catch You
by A-very-supernatural-fan
Summary: Missing scene from 8x21 – "The Great Escapist". Dean had answered his phone on the first ring - already on alert even before his sick, feverish little brother's name flashed on the cell phone screen.


CATCH YOU

**Summary:**___Missing scene from 8x21 – "The Great Escapist". Dean had answered his phone on the first ring - already on alert even before his sick, feverish little brother's name flashed on the cell phone screen. _

**Author's note: **8x21 seriously knocked my socks off but I would have loved to see Dean's reaction when he found Sam unconscious on the floor. Anyone else felt that way? Well, either way, I'm writing this ;)

-Elisa.

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"_Everything that happens to you matters to me."_

_- _Cassandra Clare, "_City of Angels_."

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"Sam?" Dean asked into his cell phone, heart rate picking up when he got no respond from the person on the other end of the line. "Sam, you there?"

Dean pulled his phone back for a second and glanced at the screen to confirm that he _was_ indeed still on the line with his brother, before he pressed the device back to his ear and listened closely for any signs of Sam being there.

Dean had answered his phone on the first ring - already on alert even before his sick, feverish little brother's name had flashed on the cell phone screen. The same little brother who had been far away in La La Land when Dean had left their room, and the same little brother who'd called him mere seconds ago but now wasn't answering.

"Damn it, Sammy." Dean growled as he hurried away from the confused older Native American man, he'd just been questioning, and rushed back towards the room the brothers had booked.

The older Winchester brother kept his cell phone pressed to his ear, as he impatiently pushed the button of the elevator, in hopes of picking up on even the slightest sound on the other end of the line – even the tiniest sound that could tell him what the heck was going on with his brother.

"Come on.. Come on, damn it!" Dean snarled at the slow elevator as he desperately pushed the button several times more, then gave up and took a run for the stairs instead.

Dean took the stairs two steps at a time, almost knocked over the manager on the way and practically ran down the hallway to get to their room.

"I swear Sam, if you're worrying the hell out of me for no reason.." Dean muttered into the phone with clenched teeth, but trailed off and hung up the phone as he realized that he really, really wished that Sam _was_ worrying him for no reason. Dean hoped that when he pushed open the door to their room, Sam would still be on his bed sleeping through his fever - only having accidentally called Dean in his sleep. Yeah, that's what Dean hoped for, but when had the Winchesters ever been that lucky?

"Sam?" Dean called as he all but crashed through the door to their room and then almost stumbled over his brother's unconscious form on the floor. "Sam!"

Dean immediately dropped to his knees in front of his lifeless brother, rolled Sam onto his back and gasped by the sight of Sam's awfully pale, sweaty face and the redness that surrounded his brother's eyes.

"Shit Sammy." Dean mumbled, carefully cupped Sam's cheek with one hand and let the other one push back Sam's bangs to feel his forehead. "Not good."

Worried about the great deal of heat radiating from Sam's skin, Dean quickly reached into his pocket for the thermometer that Sam had rejected earlier and slipped it under the younger man's tongue. It didn't take more than a few seconds for the thermometer to work, so Dean drew the device back out and paled when he saw the digits on the display; _107._

"Jesus, kid!" Dean exclaimed, his breathing picking up slightly as he realized just how serious this situation was. This was bad. Real frigging bad.

A temperature of 107 was extremely dangerous – could be fatal even – but Dean would be damned if he would let a fever rip Sam away from him! He needed to get that temperature down fast!

As careful as the older Winchester brother could be in the urgency of the situation, Dean slipped his hands under Sam's armpits and hoisted his little brother up long enough for him to be able to wrap his arms around Sam's midsection and pull him to his chest, before Dean began to drag Sam towards the small bathroom. When they got there, Dean gently put Sam down, pulled off his jacket and slipped it under the back of Sam's head for support. He then quickly plugged the bathtub and turned on the cold water before rushing out of the room to get some ice.

Three and a half minute and a lot of screaming at the manager later, Dean returned to the room with two big bags of ice that he dumped into the bathtub, before turning off the running faucet and turning his attention back to Sam.

"Hang on, Sammy. Here we go." Dean said, clenched his jaw tight as he once again hoisted up his brother, picked him up with worrying little effort and dumped him into the ice-cold water – clothes and all.

"Come on." Dean hissed out between gritted teeth and watched the air bubbles that left Sam's nose. "Come on, Sammy. Damn it, come on!"

Dean was just about to pull his little brother back up from the water so that he wouldn't drown, when Sam suddenly jolted up through the surface of the water with wide eyes and a loud gasp. Dean quickly grasped Sam's shoulders with intention of helping Sam out of the water, but the younger man batted Dean's hands away in panic and alarm before rising from the bathtub on his own.

"Take it easy, Sam." Dean told his brother and held up his hands – in both a way to show Sam that he wasn't gonna try to stop him but also so he was ready to catch his brother if needed - while Sam got out of the bathtub. "Hey, wow wow, take it easy!"

Sam was gasping and shivering, looking damn near like a drowned rat, and once Dean was sure that Sam wasn't in immediate danger of collapsing yet again, the older brother turned around to grab a towel.

"Found you on the floor passed out. Your temperature was 107 – I had to force it down!" Dean said as he unfolded the towel and draped it around Sam's shivering form. "For your toast."

"He's here, Dean. Metatron is here." Sam said, sounding and looking way more lucid than he'd done when Dean had left him behind in the room earlier that day, but he was still looking far from alright.

Sam continued to talk about the angel, that he knew where he was and that he'd seen the manager deliver books to him.

"Come on, I'll show you!" Sam said and turned around to head for the door when Dean grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Wow wow, hang on a second." Dean said.

"Dean, we gotta go! We gotta go find him and talk to him. The trials -" Sam started when Dean cut him off.

"- can wait just a few moments longer until we've gotten you into some dry clothes." Dean said and kept a firm hold of Sam's arm as he guided Sam the short distance to the bed and pushed him down to sit on the edge of it. "We don't need you to catch a cold on top of everything else."

"There were at least ten boxes of books, Dean." Sam rambled on in his fevered state while Dean gently but efficiently helped Sam out of his wet clothes.

"Uh-huh." Dean said and used the towel to dry Sam's hair, not really caring much about Metatron as long as Sam needed care.

The younger Winchester brother kept rambling, however, while Dean tossed some clean clothes on the bed that Sam more or less got into on his own, before Dean grabbed Sam's jacket and shoes.

"You need to put these on too and then you can show me where that frigging angel is hiding." Dean said, although he would have rather put his brother back to bed instead of letting Sam walk anywhere in this state he was in.

When Sam was all ready to go, the younger man rose from the bed – only to stumble directly into Dean's chest as he lost balance for a second.

"Whoops." Sam grinned, earning an eye roll from his big brother before Dean steadied him.

"Alright, let's get moving." Dean said, hovering behind Sam in case the kid should fall over as they walked to the door.

Sam was far from able to walk in a straight line which didn't do anything to help ease the concern that still filled Dean's heart. Thirty minutes previously, Sam had been lying unconscious on the floor with a temperature of 107 and now they were already on the move again. It was crazy!

"You sure you're good to do this?" Dean asked and held on to Sam as the little brother came close to face planting yet again, before opening up the door to the hallway. "Should be taking you to the ER."

"They can't do anything for me." Sam answered.

And it was true. The trials did things to Sam that even Castiel couldn't heal, and if an _angel_ couldn't do anything to help Dean's brother then what should human doctors be able to do about it? No, Sam was right – the best thing to do was find this Metatron angel and figure out how to do the third trial so hopefully Sam could get well again and get his strength back. That was Dean's plan as he walked half a step behind his brother through the hallway, ready to catch Sam should the younger man loose his balance once more. 'Cause that's what Dean did; he might not be able to prevent Sam from falling, but he would always be right there to catch his brother when he did.

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**THE END.**

**Thanks for choosing to read this story. Reviews are appreciated.**

**-Elisa.**


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